ut_pupcamper wrote:Don't just blame it on the trailer manufacturer. Sometimes you just get a lemon. We have a coachman Catalina and hav emoting but good experiences with it. We've taken care of it and it has done the same for us. I have a good friend I work with that bought a new Audi only to have one problem after another go wrong with it during the first year he had it.

I do believe there is a lack of craftsmanship anymore but it goes beyond just the trailer industry.

The way I see it is, the lemon was made by the trailer manufacturer, like I said no craftsmanship anymore, not many take pride in the work they do!

Now that it is too late, you should always make you first trip parked in your driveway to see if everything works. Great that you can deal with the problems.
Try Twin Knobs campground in the Daniel Boone NF. Much better campsites.

ut_pupcamper wrote:Don't just blame it on the trailer manufacturer. Sometimes you just get a lemon. We have a coachman Catalina and hav emoting but good experiences with it. We've taken care of it and it has done the same for us. I have a good friend I work with that bought a new Audi only to have one problem after another go wrong with it during the first year he had it.

I do believe there is a lack of craftsmanship anymore but it goes beyond just the trailer industry.

The way I see it is, the lemon was made by the trailer manufacturer, like I said no craftsmanship anymore, not many take pride in the work they do!

Hitch Pin, We have a 2012 Coachmen Catalina. Our bed pedestal broke on our second trip. When we looked at it, it was cheap wood and staples. DH had to rebuild. The kitchen drawers are very poorly made. The CD/DVD player had to be replaced, as it quit as soon as we got it home from dealer. DH will check the hubs, now. You are right, very poor workmanship. We had a 2008 Coachmen Class C that was much better quality. It's not as if these are inexpensive trailers, either!

OP - I am sorry to hear of your crappy experience on your first trip out with this new trailer. IMO it is inexcusable, no ifs, ands or buts. I don't subscribe to the feeling that this is "normal", or "to be expected" or any of that. If the RV manufacturer wants to sell a product for the sorts of money they charge then it should work without problems right off the bat. Period. One or two lemons in thousands is statistically expected in mass production but there are so many reports of shoddy workmanship in this industry that the statistics are clearly terrible.

As for craftsmanship -- that costs money, which no one wants to pay. Everyone wants this or that cheap. All you have to do is read these forums and anything else and you can see the preponderance of posts about how people are trying to do things on the cheap, even after blowing all sorts of money on a "RV" (it is a "luxury" after all) they all turn into some variant of Red Green. Now looking for inexpensive solutions to various challenges is different - often innovative and necessary, so I have no problem with that.

The point I am making is that RV manufacturers have to keep the costs down and one of the first things to go is craftsmanship. We could have a whole 'nother discussion about what constitutes good craftsmanship, but IMO that is not the issue. What is the issue is quality control, and good QC needs not be expensive.

In my Jayco, we have had no problems to date and that includes on our maiden voyage which was not close to home (as conventional wisdom would dictate) but some 6 hours away in Arkansas. Only problem was rain for 75% of the stay and even then the bunk ends did not leak. Since that time the only issue that happened is the valve on the Thetford toilet had the known problem that some have got fixed for free by contacting Thetford (I used my own fix and that works just fine). Does this mean that quality is where I want it on this RV? No. But at least the quality is good enough that my criticisms are minor and have to do more with fitup and materials than anything else. The fact that we have had no major problems probably does support the notion that, among RV manufacturers, Jayco is probably slightly better than most.

Sorry for the long post. Bottom line is, quality control is no where close to where it needs to be, and when it affects the product to the extent that the OP experienced then it is time to make the market forces effect change by buying a different product. I think that consumers could well benefit from some sort of database of experiences such as these, where people could go and read actual experiences (not just distilled ratings) so that they can judge for themselves whether or not to buy a certain brand.

There is a gauntlet to run when you purchase a new trailer. Fortunately, our 25ft Slingshot hasn't had any apparent manufacturer defects whatsoever. Our issues were with the dealer and EVERYTHING they did and didn't do. It was very evident that the trailer was not at all prepped. The accessories were incorrectly installed. We were given incorrect and dangerous instructions for using the wdh. All these things have since been resolved by me. I forwarded my complaints to CrossRoads and they said they would honor any warranty concerns at a dealer or repair facility of my choice, pending authorization. A lousy dealer can tarnish an otherwise good product by not checking for and resolving problems pre-delivery.

At least you didn't have our luck on our first outing - had a deer run into the side of our trailer and cream the front corner. Thank God it didn't hit the truck! We were able to patch up with a lot of duct tape and limp it back home for repairs. On the second outing, we had a limb from a tree fall and peel back the rear panel. We had it repaired and sold it immediately - that trailer was just jinxed!

naturist wrote:Wait a minute: the HUBS were loose? Meaning the hub nut backed off and the bearings came almost apart? Or the WHEELS were loose on the hubs? Meaning the lug nuts came loose?

Lug nuts coming loose in the first few miles of running on new wheels/tires is fairly common, it's why they advise folks to drive a few miles and then check 'em. But hub nuts coming loose means somebody neglected to put the cotter pins in, and that is really shoddy.

It was the hubs, the axle nut was loose, I mean real loose. I think that they didn't have the bearings seated when they assembled the axle. The axle are made by Lippert Components.

If the hubs were loose to the point of wobbling or noticeable while towing the bearings are compromised. I would personally want a visual to see the spindle to ensure no damage was caused. I would also want all new bearings and races installed in the hub.

Did you check the voltage coming in? The vibrating AC sounds to me like a low voltage situation.

Leaks are unfortunately all too common on a new trailer but it sounds like you nipped that one. Too bad you didn’t catch it before flooding your cabinet.

I left out two other things. The shower curtain let water pour through and soaked the floor, so we had to go buy a shower curtain liner. The other thing was the fresh water tank, it was not fastened and would slide from side to side about a foot or so under the tt, when it did it broke the fitting that the fill hose goes on.